The bear and the people

By Reiner Zimnik

Book Overview

"Well, there was a man once, and he had a bear . . ." begins this story about a friendship between man and beast. The man understands the language of bears, and the two travel together from village to village, performing for all. They are "a part of the highway like the knotty old apple trees and whitethorn bushes." Profound in its simplicity, the story is also a tribute to man's devotion to God and the goodness of the human soul. Includes black-and-white illustrations throughout.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060268182
• ISBN13: 9780060268183
• Release Date: January 1971
• Publisher: Harper & Row
• Length: 78 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Age Range: 9 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 4 and higher

Customer Reviews

touching & wise

Reiner Zimnik's novella is a mysterious and melancholy fable about companionship, loss, and the seasons of life. It is also the rare sort of "imaginative cornerstone" book that a child can grow up with and then come back to later in life to find the story even more eloquent and moving than remembered. (Note: a quirky scene with a trio of topless dancing ladies is sure to worry a few children, and a few parents.)